The AV Club: with True Blood, what's taken from the Charlaine Harris series, and where does the show depart?

Alan Ball: The main storyline is taken from it. I would say like 80 percent, we're loyal to it, the story of Sookie and Bill and their relationship, and there being a serial killing, and Sookie fearing for her life. That's all taken from Charlaine's book. The characters of Jason [Sookie's brother] and Sam [Sookie's boss] really only exist in the book whenever they're in the same place Sookie is, and Tara [Sookie's best friend] doesn't even show up until the second book, and she's Caucasian. But if we stuck to the book exactly, Anna Paquin would be working 12 hours a day, and you can't do that to an actor. It would be a huge strain on the production. I'm not sure it would be as interesting as having a lot of other compelling characters in the show, and having their stories as well. So that's where we departed from the book, but we've tried really hard to remain true to the spirit of the books, in terms of creating Jason's story and Tara's story and Sam's story.

AVC: What is the spirit of the books? What attracted you to them?

AB: You know, it's kind of a dumb answer, but they were just so much fun. It was such an escape, and yet there were nuggets of really profound things that [Harris] said about existence and parts of the culture, but it's also wrapped up in a fun amusement-park, gothic, romantic, science-fiction slasher movie. [Laughs.] And for me, after five seasons of attempting to wrestle with the existential dilemma of being mortal [with Six Feet Under], I just felt like I'd like to have little more fun. It's the kind of book when you're reading, you can't stop. I was determined to only read one chapter, because I had to get up at 6 a.m., and the minute the book was done, I got the next one and the next one. Right around book four, I remember thinking, "This would make a good TV series. If this show was done right, this would be a show I would watch."

AVC: How far ahead have you plotted the show? Do you have a full arc in mind yet?

AB: Fortunately, she's written about eight books, and she's about to publish a ninth, though I'm sure we won't stick to them 100 percent. And I think the show will encourage a lot of people to read her books, and then everybody will know everything, and I think at that point, it will become less possible or even not advisable for us to stick too strongly to the books. But for now, I'd say books one through four are really strong, and there are storylines we would go toward. But I also see as we finish season one and we're talking about season two, there will be other areas we're going to delve into.

AVC: As a show-runner, do you feel you have to look pretty far ahead in a series?

AB: No, I'm not like J.K. Rowling, where I know there's going to be this number of seasons, and I know exactly what's going to happen. I would be so bored if that was the case. There would be no journey. There would be nothing to discover. I'm lucky in that I get to work with some really, really gifted writers that feel passionately about this world and this material. It is a bit of a melting pot, the writers' room, in terms of the synthesis that happens between all these different minds and perspectives, and I trust that I will know how to keep things from veering off course. But I don't know how it's going to end. I haven't really thought about it. I did always sort of know that Nate Fisher would die in Six Feet Under, because it was like, "Of course," but I don't know about this one.

AVC: In your capacity as show-runner, how would you describe your sphere of influence?

AB: Well, let's say I have veto power. I'm certainly the last word in casting. I do a pass on the script before it goes to the table, before it goes to the director. That being said, I'm not on the set when shows are being shot. The writer-producers I work with, whoever wrote the first draft of that script serves as the producer. I don't think each show has to be exactly like the other one. I like it when this one feels a little more like a documentary, and this one feels a little more like an old-fashioned romantic movie. I personally like that as a viewer. But I think probably the role of show-runner on a television series sort of equates to the role of either director of a film, or a producer who is really highly involved. I mean, I'm involved in editing, I re-cut episodes, and I'm definitely involved in scoring and sound mixing, but I do feel like the focus of my job is to keep the best possible scripts coming down the pipeline, so department heads and visiting actors and directors have them 10 days before we start shooting. That's the only way I know how to work.

AVC: How do you envision the use of vampires as a metaphor? There are times on the show when it seems a very clear metaphor for something, and then it shifts around.

AB: Obviously, it's very easy to see the vampires as a metaphor for—at this point in history—for gay and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, just in the sense that equal rights and vampire marriage—that is to say, marriage between vampires and humans—is an issue in the show. But I think it's so easy to see them as that. It's just too easy. As a deeper metaphor, beyond the talking-head political sphere, I think they are, in some ways, a metaphor for a kind of shadowy group that is silently but very efficiently amassing and consolidating power. That's their goal, and anybody who gets in their way will be destroyed. There are certainly forces like that at work in the world. So for me, they were kind of a fluid metaphor, and I like that. Some of the vampires are like humans, some of them are very sympathetic, and some of them are just bad, and actively want to spread chaos throughout the world.

AVC: Given the show's backwoods Louisiana setting, how does the broader concerns of the vampires—their official fight for equal rights, their integration into society—figure into a locale where few have ever met a vampire? How do those two things integrate?

AB: I'm not sure they really do. It seems to integrate more in the marketing campaign than in the actual show. It integrates in the way that a presidential campaign is integrating in a small town, and it kind of filters down. But it does serve a purpose in the show as texture, as background. The story is not about how the vampires are going to get their rights. But those issues are coming back, and certainly as the season progresses, the anti-vampire church comes more into play, and you've got to keep the political dialogue going between the pro-vampire and anti-vampire forces. When that happens, it feels organic, so that it's not like all of the sudden, we're telling stories about the church. Because to me, that's really clumsy storytelling.

AVC: So what are you looking to evoke about the South in this show? Do you see it as straight Southern Gothic?

AB: I certainly don't want to belittle the South and do the typical Hollywood "Look at those clowns and idiots," or give the women silly hats and big flowery dresses. I'm from the South, so while I personally find it impossible to live there, I still have a fondness for it as a geographical region. I'm just trying to create a place that has a real taste of something non-generic. Certainly one of the aspects of setting the show in Louisiana that we love is the presence of nature, the humidity, the heat, the bugs, all of that stuff. And I try to keep that alive in every episode, because we decided to approach the supernatural as not something that occurs outside of nature, but something that's a deeper manifestation of nature than we are equipped to perceive. One of the other things I responded to in the book was how much I love that Southern dialect, the way people express themselves. It's like music, and so it's nice to go there.

Stephen Moyer, who represents Bill Compton, has worked hard to become a worrying and be attractive to both: "Imagine how to be Bill, a vampire 173 years, is not obvious. To embody it, I chose to save my movements, even the most innocuous. Therefore, when acting as vampire, it seems more powerful, faster and more worrying ". With all the characters, even secondary, True Blood reveals, little by little, the real ambition of its author: "Of course, True Blood could be rightly regarded as a metaphor for minorities, a charge against the administration Bush, but, above all, a study of manners unbridled between different characters. "

This has convinced Stephen Moyer to accept the role of Bill: "Alan Ball, blood, sex, sweat, meaning and all on HBO, I would have been crazy to refuse! ".Fixed12/22: And when Alan Ball is asked if Anna Paquin was as willing as her partner [Stephen Moyer] to appear in scenes featuring violence and nudity, he replies firmly: "There was no hesitation on her part. Anna insisted on doing all her scenes herself. Especially if, at the end she could be bitten by a vampire (laughs). Duly noted.

Thanks to one of my readers for fixing that last paragraph ! Wow, that does spice things up , huh ?somebody help with a better translation of the last paragraph -what ??

The Office star Mackenzie Crook is transformed into an evil vampire for a monster-packed ITV1 fantasy drama.

Crook sports a crooked beak to play Gladiolus Thrip alongside Life On Mars actor Philip Glenister in Demons, a modern-day version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula set in London.

Glenister plays American ex-CIA agent Rupert Galvin who sets about training his godson Luke (Christian Cooke), the last descendant of vampire killer Van Helsing, to destroy the creatures terrorising the capital.Demons

Funny it's the same scene I chose this morning for the other Nelsan post "Tip your waitress !!" terrific

4. "True Blood" Lafayette Says 'You Got Served!'

As one of only three new shows I picked up during the Fall 2008 season, I became more obsessed with "True Blood." I am inordinately infatuated with the world, the mythology and the dialogue these crazy characters get to say.

I had an extremely difficult time picking one scene from this show -- Bill and Sookie having graveyard sex was a very close second -- but thanks to Lafayette's fabulous earring removal, I was incapable of ignoring his white trash smack down from episode five.

More fresh blood! Wes Brown (We Are Marshall) is the latest addition to True Blood's season 2 ensemble. He'll play Luke, a God-obsessed hunk that bonds with Jason (Ryan Kwanten) at a church camp, in at least six episodes.

and you gotta love that in French articles Sookie lives in Good Cheer, Louisiana

The idea is that the confrontation with humans does not really place in a climate of general benevolence, as illustrated the complicated love story between Bill the vampire (Stephen Moyer), former lieutenant of cavalry Confederate Army during the Civil War, and Sookie, barmaid virgin, blonde and incidentally telepath.

You can read/translate it here ;http://www.ecrans.fr/Le-sang-neuf-de-True-Blood,6000.html

Another quirky, urban dramedy about Supernatuarals ....I guess fox noticed HBO numbersPlease do not tell Alcide-- i don't want all the weres to move to San Francisco after they catch the scent from this show

For San Francisco film lovers, we are pleased to present this story from “The Moving Picture.”

Fox is developing a new dramedy about a quartet of female friends in New York who happen to be werewolves. The project, titled Bitches, is described as a quirky urban fairy tale.

The project has received a script plus penalty commitment from the network and comes from feature writer/director Michael Dougherty and Warner Bros. TV.

TV writing duo Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts (Pushing Daisies) have come on board to supervise Dougherty. The two also will serve as executive producers alongside Dougherty if the project goes to series.

Trick ‘r Treat is an anthology horror flick starring Anna Paquin and Dougherty’s feature directing debut. Although receiving great reviews on the festival circuit it has faced many delays and still hasn’t seen a wide release.

17. Nelsan Ellis. As gay, drug-dealing chef Lafayette on HBO's True Blood, he's the show's most complex and compelling character. (He's also one of the few actors on the series who doesn't speak with a mangled Southern accent, so he gets extra points there.)full list here http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/2008/12/20-rob-pattinso.html